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Every year, along with the threat of fires, the story of firefighting aircraft returns. From statements by ministers to pledges by the prime minister, the public has often heard during the summer season or in campaigns that the aircraft will arrive "soon."
In Albania, recent summers have always brought the risk of fires that consume thousands of hectares of forests and pastures, leaving behind major environmental damage. In parallel with this recurring threat, the promise of creating an aerial firefighting capacity has remained unfulfilled.
In January 2026, the then Minister of Defense, Pirro Vëngu, stated that Albania was still in the process of securing firefighting aircraft, changing the previous deadlines announced by the government.
" We are buying two firefighting aircraft, in the medium term we will have four. In the 2026 budget there is a budget for 2. We are negotiating the contract ," declared Vëngu.
According to him, the goal was for one of the aircraft to arrive this year, but he admitted that full operationalization could take more time.
" The operational deadline, knowing that they will be produced for us and we also need to train the pilots, takes us to 2027 to have them in firefighting activities ," the minister added.
The Ministry does not provide the status of the contract.
Facto contacted the Ministry of Defense to learn what stage the process of purchasing two firefighting aircraft is in. The institution's response does not provide concrete data on the contract.
"Information regarding the aforementioned contract will be detailed in a later communication," the Ministry of Defense's response states.
This response comes after a series of different statements from defense officials on the same issue. In August 2025, Minister Pirro Vëngu declared that the procedure was complete:
"We have allocated funds and completed the process for the purchase of two firefighting aircraft. The budget is secured and the procedures for their purchase have been completed," he stated.
But after a request for information from Faktoje, the Ministry of Defense clarified that the process was still under development and that it was not about dedicated firefighting aircraft, but about multi-role aircraft with other uses, including fire intervention capacities.
2025, one of the worst years for fires
While the process for the aircraft continues, the fires have caused considerable damage. According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), part of the Copernicus service, 132 fires were recorded in Albania during 2025, burning about 59,933 hectares of forest and pasture land.
For 2026, updated EFFIS data shows 9 fires and approximately 528 hectares of burned area so far.
However, the risk remains high. European climate monitoring services have warned that extreme temperatures and dry conditions are increasing the risk of fires in Europe. Copernicus has reported that recent years have been among the hottest on record, with 2025 one of the hottest years on record.
From the promise of Peles to the "legend" of the two planes
The promise of firefighting aircraft is not new. In January 2023, then-Minister of Defense Niko Peleshi declared that Albania would purchase two multi-role aircraft for fire and emergency response.
"There are some tools that are more modest in cost, more maneuverable and more suitable for our fire situations," Peleshi declared.
A year later, in October 2024, Facto confirmed that the aircraft had not yet been purchased. The ministry had expected them to enter service in late 2025 or early 2026.
In March 2025, during the electoral campaign, Prime Minister Edi Rama promised that the aircraft would be available that summer. But a few months later (in July 2025) the Ministry of Defense confirmed to Faktoje that the Armed Forces did not have any firefighting aircraft.
Today, in mid-2026, after several changed deadlines, the status of the contract for the two aircraft still remains unclear. The next deadline for their commissioning has been pushed back to 2027, because, in addition to the production of the aircraft, pilot training is also needed before they can be used in firefighting operations.
cONcluSiON
Every year, along with the risk of fires, the story of firefighting aircraft returns. From the statements of ministers to the pledges of the prime minister, the public has often heard in the summer season or in campaigns that the aircraft will arrive "soon". But as the flames continue to consume large areas, the aircraft still remain on paper, in unclear contracts and changed deadlines. Until the contract becomes transparent and the aircraft arrive, the "legend of the two firefighting aircraft" will continue. / Faktoje.al
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